The new croquet season is now just over a month away and the news about Covid-19 evolves daily. I am confident that clubs are considering the impact of the virus on their own activities and will undoubtedly be guided by Government advice however I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that we are continually monitoring the situation and its impact on the Federation league programme. As an interim measure we have agreed to introduce a supplementary rule covering matches that are either cancelled or abandoned due to Covid-19.
· In the event of a club being unable to fulfil a fixture due to Covid-19 issues arising from confirmed infection of a member of the club or self-isolation of a member of the team then this will constitute an ‘agreed emergency’ under league rule 2(b).
· In the event that a new date for the match cannot be agreed within the required 3 weeks period after the scheduled date then the match will be declared a draw with one point awarded to each side.
· If a match, for which the original cause of its postponement was Covid-19 related, remains unplayed by the end of the season then the match will be declared a draw with one point awarded to each side.
· If during the course of a match it has to be abandoned due to a Covid-19 related issue then the match will be declared a draw unless the teams can, within a three week period, agree a revised date to play the match. If an individual game within a match is abandoned or cannot take place due to a Covid-19 related issue then that game will be declared a draw and the result of the match determined accordingly.